


For The Kill

by Cacoethes (EvenEcho)



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, F/F, F/M, Infinity Gems, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, Loki (Marvel)-centric, M/M, Multi, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Thor: The Dark World Compliant, Past Child Abuse, Vampire Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 09:54:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14998337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenEcho/pseuds/Cacoethes
Summary: Major AU!Loki is born of Thanos and Death's magic. He is raised an expert assassin and is the first and only real Child of Thanos.





	For The Kill

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is probably a lot like my other fic ("They Don't Care About You Like I Do") but it is StrangeIronFrost because I read all the fanfiction with this pairing I could get my hands on and I have some weird ideas about morality that I like to explore way too often. Also, I like vampires, like, a lot. c: 
> 
> There will be a few background pairings. I felt like I should mention this first (and be warned this is going to be a long author's note) because I know sometimes certain pairings just aren't people's cup of tea and the mention of them goes against head canons that it is a waste of the entire fic and stuff (I've never really felt this way, but I can understand the thought behind it. I feel this way with certain tags). So, the main pairings are tagged (Thanos/Death and Tony/Loki/Stephen) then there is mentioned/implied/referenced pairings of Shuri/Natasha Romanoff, Corvus Glaive/Proxima Midnight, Peter Quill/Gamora, and Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, but that one is one-sided. 
> 
> Then there is the whole JARVIS is still around and the Vision and Ultron never happened because, I'll be 100% honest and say I didn't like how they handled that story. I love Joss Whedon as much as the next nerd, but there was just something about the movie that I didn't really like, and I can blame some of this on how different it was from the comics. I'm also going to say that I didn't have the pleasure to read the comics, but I have read about them (extensively, so please don't give me any shit) and I think that it could have been, different. I'm not going to say better, because I still though it was a good movie overall, I just didn't like aspects of it. It makes lots of sense in the rest of the MCU, but yeah. Anywho... 
> 
> There's a few warnings I wanted to add, as of now, there probably won't be a very good Wanda Maximoff reception going on. I don't hate her (hate is such a strong word) but I liked her better when she was in teh Brotherhood of Mutants and stuff, so I don't really know why I don't like her in the Avengers but yeah. In all fairness, she does have the whole mental instability thing going for her to justify her irrational anger towards Tony Stark, but for the purposes of this fanfic, she is not going to be bashed, per se, but she isn't going to be the good guy either (but then nobody really is. Like I said, I love me some moral ambiguity). Pietro, however, is still dead. Sorry, I like Pietro a lot, especially with Wanda (not in a weird romantic sense) but because they seemed to ground each other, and destabilize each other at the same time which was a cool dynamic that I really enjoyed to watch (one of the better parts of Age of Ultron). Also, without Vision and Ultron, Wanda was introduced differently, and I'm not sure how far or how detailed I'll be getting with it (as I write this, I only have an outline with like twnety-thirty points on it to get through) but hopefully I don't confuse too many people. This is also definitely Team Iron Man, so prepare to have your Captain America sympathies destroyed (and I'm gonna say it, but I think Cap is a self righteous piece of hypocritical shit. I don't like him, sorry -- but not really). 
> 
> At some point there will be Major Character Death and I wasn't sure if I should even tag it because they don't stay dead, for long anyway, so if I should remove that, let me know. 
> 
> The "Cull Obsidian" and the "Black Order" are used synonymously. The 'Cull Obsidian' from the movie is more like the comic version of himself and goes by Black Dwarf (I'm still wondering why they changed his name). Anyway, Supergiant and Yabbat Ummon Turu aren't in this either, mostly because I didn't know how to add them into the story, so don't hate me. I didn't just forget them, but I just didn't know how to have so many magical/psionic beings together. I'm not that talented, so trying something like that seemed too difficult for me. Sorry for being a bitch-baby and giving up when things got hard, but that's the truth of it. 
> 
> I think that sums it up. I hope that didn't throw you off the actual story.

It was around 960 AD that Thanos and Death thought that they wanted a child. It wasn’t a small commitment, but Thanos longed for someone to take care of and Death had magic of creation and death swirling at her fingertips that she rarely got to use. She drew up a baby, made of magic and sent it, like a parasite, to another child. This magical baby would eat the other infant, killing it and take over its body. It was a vampire by all means and could and would likely kill its host body by draining her blood. Thanos set his rudimentary ship to Jotunheim where Death informed them their child would be born. When Thanos arrived, Loki, they decided to name the babe, had been kidnapped by Asgardians. This was the first schism between Thanos and Odin. Thanos retrieved Loki and left, not taking his chance while cradled his infant son against his large chest. Thanos sat on the throne in his ship as he traveled along Yggdrasil and to Sanctuary, the hideout he had been residing on since the destruction of Titan. 

“My lady,” Thanos called to his lover, “Why is he so small?” 

“He is a vampire, a dead being that lives, he is small due to his lack of nutrition from his bearer. She was likely ill suited to care for the babe that rested inside of her leading to his small size,” Thanos didn’t appear to dislike the child, but he was a little put-out since they were both cosmic entities in their own right and any child born from them should have been large like Thanos, but then again, Death was a small entity when she manifested in a mortal-skin. Loki wasn’t mortal, though, he was a vampire, or something close to it. The first of his kind, actually. Thanos took him to the Sanctuary and he raised him to be the perfect assassin. Loki lived and craved the affection and attention from his parents, and he loved praise, simply basked in their delighted words when he managed to successfully hit someone, and he took the punishment for failure like a champion. Like a true victor and King. What else could be expected from the child of Thanos and Death, though, excellency was a given. 

Loki was the first Child of Thanos. Many more came after. Gamora, Nebula, Corvus Glaive and Black Dwarf, and Proxima Midnight came after Loki, but none were as loved or as cherished. Loki was not a spoiled child, nor did he ever see it appropriate to rub his increased affection in the faces of the others, he simply accepted them as his siblings and welcomed them. He was in his hundreds by the time Gamora came into their lives, and Nebula too. Nebula got experimented on, it was just a fact of life. She was meant to be tampered with, as a Luphomoid, in their genetic makeup was wrong coding leading them to extreme instability. Loki and the others, all beside Gamora, accepted it as a universal truth and never thought anything of it. Gamora was trained from childhood after Loki helped decimate her planet by taking out the most skilled and leaving Thanos, his father, to take the others down with brute force. She was always vocal, to Loki especially, about her dislike for Thanos’ practices. It led her to be berated by the others, like Proxima and Corvus who disliked Gamora and her perpetual whining, while Loki listened. Loki didn’t care, frankly, but he was always there to give the illusion he was listening, or he left clones around to watch and Gamora ranted to one of them. Loki knew her darkest secrets and he was only waiting to use them against her if his father ever commanded it. 

Not only was Loki a skilled assassin, but he was trained in the mystical arts. Specifically illusions, shapeshifting and necromancy. He could raise the dead, but with different techniques than his mother. He could drink blood and offer his in return to grant immortality, and he could use green energy form his core of magic. He was, after all, a child born of magic, the magic of his mother and father. He wasn’t like any other being in the vast universes. Gamora eventually runs off to do the ‘right’ thing and abandons her family. Loki can’t help but to hate her. When she left, Thanos gathered his children. Nebula, who was younger than Gamora, was inconsolable and cried for days. That was around the time that Ebony Maw, an adult, joined the crew. The others were all adults or in their late adolescence, so it was safe to introduce a strange man. They were all strong enough to defend themselves. Despite Thanos’ seemingly cold facade, he truly cared for them, and Loki considered Gamora a fool to spit in Thanos’ face. She would suffer a great death that he hoped he had the pleasure to witness or cause. 

It was hundreds of years later when he was sent to Earth in search of the Infinity Stones hidden there. He was no stranger to Earth. He often went to Earth to kill and feed when he was injured. He had killed thousands, tens of thousands, during his existence. There were so many human-ants that they never seemed to diminish in numbers by his attacks, so he kept returning. He traced his magic, innate to the universe and cosmos due to the connection with his mother, and sought out a man in a tower of great stature and even greater in luxury. Loki, if he hadn’t been working for his father, would have lingered. 

He watches the man named Tony Stark, and his partner and lover, Stephen Strange. He learned many things about them, watching them from a distance or form the shadows of their comfortable lives. Stephen was once a surgeon, and he had known Tony, but then he injured himself and he left Tony for many months before he came back with the ability to wield magic. Tony was an engineer and Loki saw some of the blueprints to his, no longer produced, weapons. He was very intrigued, as he should be. He had found some of the smartest men on the planet Earth and he adored to listen to them speak and banter. Their wit and ability to talk and make quips at each other was amazing and Loki felt himself, for the first time in so long, longing for something like that. It wasn’t until three months into his assignment, he made himself known. He hovered around the couch that they rested. Stephen was resting on the couch with Tony’s head on his chest. It hurt Loki to know that he could never have that, but he didn’t want to kill these mortals. He decided he would propose a deal. Stephen was the first to react and made golden sigils fly from his fingertips and protect them. With equally as slender and beautiful hands, Loki used the green magic that swelled at his fingertips to take apart the wards the Doctor had just surrounded himself with. 

“I am not here to hurt you,” Loki whispered and Tony slowly woke up from the jostling from his partner. Tony looked at Loki and sat up, summoning a gauntlet to his private suit to his arm. 

“Then what are you here to do?” 

“I only wish to collect the items in your possession. I come on behalf of my father,” Loki looked at them with pleading eyes.  _ Please don’t make me kill you _ , he asked with glassy irises, but neither man understood. He was far too complex to read, his eyes saying things his hands countered and his body’s rigid posture contradicted. “He is a man of great power. Please, do not make me take them by force.” 

“What is it that you want exactly?” Tony asked, his voice soft but no less hesitant. 

“I want the time stone and the space stone. Two stones in close proximity in two mortal’s possessions. It is almost too grand to consider, but you have managed to contain such power…” Loki trailed off before stepping forward. Immediately sigils and a gauntlet were aimed at him, but he reached out and held the gauntlet in his hands, feeling the cool metal under his touch. “Give them to me. I offer your life or I take your life. Either way, the gems come with me,” they both looked hesitant, and they shared many looks, their eyes always ending back up on Loki. “If you would be amenable,” he started with hesitancy he wasn’t familiar with hearing in his own voice, “I would be willing to offer wonderful warriors and minds such as yourselves protection aboard my ship, with my family and I.” 

“Why would you do that?” 

“I have,” he tried to chose his words carefully. How could he make himself seem the exact opposite of how he had been, “I have been observing you and your habits for a few Earth months. I am sorry, I understand it is a great invasion of privacy, but when I first saw you, I thought of you both as mere targets…” he realized none of this was sounding very helpful to his case. Tony scoffed, but he smiled. 

“You sound like the normal paparazzi we see round here, we get all the types. Just, don’t worry about the weird stalking thing, weaker men had succumbed to our charm, but why would you open your home to ‘mere targets’?” 

“You were  _ at first _ targets, but after observing -- I don’t think that you are targets any longer -- I have found that I have enjoyed the interaction between the both of you. I myself have been denied the opportunity pursue relationships, but I am… I am hopeful?” 

“Ahhh, Stephen! Can we keep him? He’s a lil’ rough round the edges, but he’s like a kicked puppy. A crazy, stalking, murderous kicked puppy!” Loki cocked his head to the side, unsure what that meant. Logically, he knew that he was being insulted, but it hadn’t sounded anything like the typical insults he had directed at him. He also knew that this human could be vicious when he wanted to really offend someone, he had seen it in action days prior while observing them. Stephen looked as if he couldn’t deny Tony anyway, no matter the logical and reasonable argument that they couldn’t simply believe an assassin who stalked them for God knows how long before approaching. Stephen raised his hands in a typical gesture to give up his say or to give into Tony’s demands. Tony jumped up off the couch, startling Loki into recoiling backwards. 

“Alright, take us to your leader,” Tony held is hand out and Stephen summoned their respective stones and placed the tesseract in Tony’s open palm. 

“For all intents and purposes, you are  _ lost children _ ,” Loki smiled and took their empty hands before teleporting them to Sanctuary II’s guest throne room. He knelt before the golden throne and his father. Stephen and Tony did the same. Loki took the objects from them and approached his father, head bowed, and handed him the Eye of Agamotto and the tesseract before stepping back and remaining prostrated before his liege and father. 

“You brought us two earthlings? Are they going back to your chambers? Slaves perhaps?” Stephen and Tony both flinched and Loki shook his head, and responded verbally as well. 

“No, father. I come to ask if they may stay as an addition to our family, or lost children. I can send them back, I can… I can kill them if you would rather--” 

“No, Loki, that is not necessary. They gave you the stones? That was very foolish, I expect you to teach them, my son.” 

“Of course, father,” Loki choked out. Thanos held out a large purple hand and Loki stood and took it. He looked up at his father’s pleased face and smiled. “Thank you, so much.” 

“Anything, my son. Now, take them back to your quarters and keep them away from the others until we can introduce them. Humans, as you know, aren’t always welcome. Maw is still a little…  _ touchy _ ,” Thanos dismissed them after making a show to break the containers of the gems and adding them to a large gauntlet made of gold. Loki led Tony and Stephen to his large quarters. They were the largest second to Thanos’. They were on the third floor, the entire floor was his. Loki sat down on his bed. He wasn’t normally hesitant, but he was nervous. He had all that he wanted, and his father had accepted them in the way that he usually did with lost children, but the fact that neither Tony nor Stephen were children and were brought after only three months of observation was likely very suspicious to his father. He was prepared for a punishment. He began to lay out the rules of the ship to them. Tony seemed too entranced by the technology and Stephen was focused on the books on the bookshelves that lined all the walls in Loki’s chambers. Basic rules like where they were to sleep, how they were to act before Thanos and who they were to avoid approaching and where they weren’t allowed to go were set out in a comprehensive manner. 

“You don’t have to sleep in my bed, I can have another moved into the spare room across the hall. I should have thought of it. I haven’t been on board for quite some time though,” Loki added. Stephen and Tony shook it off and they ended up sleeping on top of Loki, who was cold to the touch, but still warmer than the freezing atmosphere of space. They fit in seamlessly, and Loki couldn’t be happier. 

\--

Thanos took Tony under his wing while Death took care of Stephen. They taught them of technology and magic respectively. Loki grew closer to them, and he enjoyed their quirks. Like Stephen’s insistence on never ‘dog-earing’ (as Stephen called it when he bent the corner of hte pages to keep his place; Loki had never know of the term before so it must have been an ‘Earth-thing’) the books and putting them back before taking out another. Then, Tony was fond of taking everything apart and then putting it back together. He had destroyed three electric net dispensers this way so far and so many more devices alone, and he was on a spree to destroy even more in his process of learning. It took them two weeks before they were inducted into the Cull Obsidian as official members, both under Loki in status. Loki was responsible for them, but they were taught as if they were children and punished similarly (but that didn’t mean much when it came to punishment since Loki was enduring harsh punishment since childhood as well). Tony was a nuisance for the other more solitary members of the Black Order, but Stephen seemed to stay like Loki and stick to their rooms. Tony was especially annoying to Corvus, the second oldest and the ‘right hand man’ to Thanos, who often growled and hissed at him, but Tony just took it in stride and continued to poke and pester him. Corvus couldn’t remain angry at Loki’s new partner, but it didn’t stop him from snapping at the man. The worst part, but still somewhat-amusing part, was that Tony only snapped back just as harsh if not harsher before continuing. 

Thanos had five of the six infinity gems now after Loki’s collection of the two Earthly gems. He took Nebula to Vomir to collect the Soul Stone. He sacrificed her. It was sadly easy to do, but Thanos left with the stone, and departed back to Sanctuary II. Proxima was the first to ask where Nebula was, and Thanos’ answer was simple, ‘She’s gone.’ Nobody asked about her again. It was surprisingly efficient, the infinity gauntlet, when used for mass destruction. There was special magic that kept everyone on the ship safe from its effects, courtesy of the cosmic beings like Death. Tony had once explained, to Thanos, everything that had been happening on Earth, and Thanos deemed it chaos in need of a firm ruler. He was only saving the universe, he and the Children reasoned, and Earth especially from the worms that humans were (neither Tony nor Stephen even attempted to argue about the human-worm issue. It was a never-ending-anytime-soon battle). Thanos destroys half the universe with the snap of his large fingers and like that, people disappear into dust. That was six months ago. They were currently being attacked by raider aliens. 

Loki was perched on the metal beams looming over the ship and between stairwells. He threw a dagger every now and again, but he was much more suited to creating illusions. One second they are fighting Tony or Corvus and then next they stab their best friend thinking it is their opponent only to see that they had just murdered their comrade. It was amusing to hear their cries of anguish and pain as they murder their friends. Loki knows that he would never want to face someone like him in battle, he wouldn’t be able to handle it if someone got the better of him and had him kill someone he cared for. He didn’t mind using his tricks on these poor souls though. 

Thanos killed the rest of them, hardly breaking a sweat if he even did at all, and then he sent his children to the ship that had attacked to raid and gather thier supplies. Tony carried in crates with his suit on. He dropped them in the cafeteria. 

“It looks like we have years of more alien goop to sustain us,” he says with distaste as he scrunches up his nose. Loki laughs at him and pokes his nose with the back of his dagger before he cuts open the seals on the crates and digs through what they had to eat exactly. Tony was, unfortunately, right and it was mostly freeze-dried alien fruits and bags of substantial ‘alien goop’. Loki started to put the items away before sending his magic out to help the others with their tasks. With Stephen using magic, they were the only two magic users on board, but Loki was stronger and they both admitted that. It was Loki would could spread himself thin, while Stephen needed focus. Loki had had thousands (more) years of experience. 

“We could ask to go off-ship sometime if the ‘alien goop’ bothers you, Anthony,” Loki finally said as he left the pantry. Tony followed Loki to the cargo hold to help the others catalogue the weaponry found on the other ship. It was mostly primitive, and it wasn’t anything near close to that of the technology they used. They planned on scrapping and melting down the old weapons to turn them into newer, more efficient and powerful tools of destruction. Tony took over quickly while Black Dwarf carried the boxes and cases full of ammunition for each weapon. Loki left with a kiss to Tony’s lips and wished him well on his discovery and creation of new weapons. 

Loki knocked on the giant double doors that lead to Thanos’ throne room. He was permitted entrance, and he walked in without the usually-necessary display of deference. He saw and heard his mother, Death. He approached hesitantly. Even he knew that their relationship, now that he had offered her half the universe worth of souls, was strained. Why? He didn’t know, but he had a feeling he could find out if he poked with the right questions or simply asked his mother. His father would never admit it, being a proud man. Too proud to admit that even he had relationship problems (despite them being obvious). It wasn’t until Loki got closer to the throne that he could see around it. Beside his mother was a man, he was horribly scarred and generally hideous. Not too far from his father’s appearance, how he ended up, arguably, beautiful was still a question he asked himself. He blamed the mortal-ish genes of his birth parents that he looked the way he did, and the illusions he wore to look human, or at least pink coloured as opposed to the bluish-purple hue his skin was naturally. 

“Why?” He heard his father ask. 

“I have only ever loved him,” Death says and Loki reels back. What had he just walked into? He was curious, but it was in a similar sense to when someone stopped to watch a car crash, or more accurately for Loki and his kin, a spacecraft collision. 

“He is still young, thousands younger than our son, or have you forgotten about him?” 

“Don’t you dare use him against me!” She shouted, although like usual, her voice didn’t match her skeletal body. Loki would have thought her to be a beautiful young alien, but she was really a skeleton wrapped in thick robes to cover her mysterious body. She was an enigma, she logically shouldn’t exist, yet she did, and by that logic, he shouldn’t exist either. Thanos was on his knees, off the throne, and looking up at Death and the man who had taken his lover away from him. 

“Then what else should I use to sway you? Have you never loved me as I have loved you? I have been nothing but devoted!” 

“Yes…” she admits, “but perhaps I didn’t need devotion. There are cults sprawled across the universe that adore and worship me. I needed someone to love, and you are a monster. You are incapable of such an emotion, of course, so I have always doubted it. Yet, the closest you have ever come to ‘love’ was with me. You belong to me, your every emotion, your will, it all belongs to me, your true master, but you… no, you are not worthy of me. Merely a monster playing cosmic being,” she said and that’s when Loki stepped forward. 

“Mother?” 

“Loki, my darling,” she said and the other, more awkward man who seemed to be uncomfortable yet also enjoying the proceedings turned to look at him. 

“Oh, this is your kid?” He asked, “He’s kinda cute, isn’t he? Where did he get the looks from, darlin’, he sure didn’t get them from his pops. Maybe you? He is a little bony.” 

“Wade,” she scolded with affection before turning to her son. “Hello, child, how have you been--” 

“Don’t change the subject, my Lady,” despite his heartbreak, Thanos was attempting kindness for his eternal and only love. “Loki, did the other ship get cleaned out?” 

“Hello, mother. Also, yes, father. The ship has been cleaned out. We have executed the rest of the crew. My Anthony is working on dismantling and creating new weapons, their technology was primitive, I came to report,” Loki stood tall, his hands behind his back as he gave the report in a more formal manner than he would have any other time. He was honestly nervous. His father was rarely this emotional and his mother was hardly as cruel. Then there was the presence of the strange man that he was understandably wary of. “And to speak with you and mother.” 

“Why don’t you go and make sure that your Anthony doesn’t pester Corvus and Dwarf. The last time,” Thanos just chuckled. Yes, it was true, the last time Tony was left alone in their presence, Dwarf nearly broke Tony’s spine while Corvus refused to help and simply poked him with his glaive until he woke up, managing to leave him covered in holes cut at an atomic level. Tony, though, could more than handle himself now, Loki was sure. Anytime Corvus or Dwarf tried to torment him, they would get a nasty shock for their trouble, Loki made and cast the spell with Stephen’s help. They were both protective of the magicless but genius human. 

“Anthony? Like that Stark guy that was kidnapped a year ago?” 

“One and the same,” Loki answered with a grin and the man, Wade, frowned a little take aback. He quickly recuperated and laughed. His laugh wasn’t anything like Thanos’, in fact it was high pitched and a little like the way Loki pictured a rat sneezing while Thanos was like a lion growling. He wondered how else this Wade character differed from his father. Their personalities, already, were so different in comparison and Loki had only just met his mother’s new lover. 

“Your son managed to get Tony Stark! That’s great! I had been arguing with him to let me into the Avengers and then, poof, he was gone and I got in. Thanks for that, little guy,” Wade must not have noticed that Loki was at least six inches taller than him and was thousands of years older. Loki refrained from commenting however, turning his attention back to his mother and father. Thanos was in shock, his hands shaking. Whether it was in rage or terror was yet to be seen, but his mother looked as regal as she always did. 

“Yes, well, I agree that it is great. I have come to care for him and Stephen quite a lot… mother… what has brought this on? I do not doubt your love for this man,” he motions to Wade, “but I fear that father--” 

“Loki! Leave us now,” Thanos finally says. He had enough of him trying to change the subject and bring up lighter topics. He wanted answers and he wanted his lover, his mistress who had been with him for thousands of years, to acknowledge him. He cared for his son, as parents were supposed to, but that didn’t mean he was able to weasel his way into and out of important topics like he so often tried. Loki was a master at wriggling and wrangling through the harsher topics and changing everyone’s mind or at least de-escalating issues (just as he was a master of escalating things to violence and worse). 

“Don’t you yell at him, Dione!” Death shouted at him and Loki nodded, bowed and left quickly. He slumped against the double doors that led to his father’s throne room. He slid down the doors and sighed, resting his head on his knees. He hadn’t witnessed his parents fighting in such a long time, it was annoying how uncomfortable and disconcerting it was to witness. He hadn’t seen his mother in a hundred years at least and Thanos was untypically angry and dismissive of him, which had never happened before. His opinion was almost always sought after. He was used often to de-escalate issues, yet it had not worked this time. He could hear shouting from inside the room and finally a great power surge shook the Sanctuary II. Thanos pulled the doors open at the same time Loki jumped up and knelt before his father. Thanos dropped a gem before Loki and stalked off behind him. That is the last time Loki sees Thanos for months. 


End file.
